Conventional wreckers for towing disabled cars are very expensive, and this fact has created a market for a less expensive towing trailer which can be quickly and conveniently attached to a standard trailer hitch on the back of a towing vehicle, such as a pickup truck, and used to tow a disabled vehicle.
Exemplary disclosures of the prior art are shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,417,890 issued Dec. 24, 1986, to Kichisaburo Yamazaki for TRAILER FOR TOWING CARS; U.S. Pat. No. 3,721,356 issued Mar. 20, 1973, to John M. McNeill for VEHICLE TOWING DEVICE; and U.S. Pat. No. 3,841,506 issued Oct. 15, 1974, to William M. Smith for TOW TRAILER FOR VEHICLES.
The Yamazaki tow trailer comprises an elongated beam on which a transverse wheeled frame and a transverse support frame are longitudinally slidable as by a chain block and cable. The operation of the Yamazaki TOW TRAILER is a multi-step operation requiring the trailer to be disconnected from the tow vehicle while initially connecting the disabled vehicle and manipulation of the tow trailer relative to the disabled vehicle after the tow trailer is reconnected to the tow vehicle. It is a needless and time-consuming operation.
McNeill discloses a tow trailer having a horizontal frame with a trailer coupling at one end and supporting wheels at the other end. An upright member extends perpendicularly from the horizontal frame above the wheels, and a winch and cable raise a pivoted arm to lift one end of a disabled vehicle off the ground. The McNeill trailer is short and wide with a high profile and a high concentration of weight in a limited area so that it is difficult, if not impossible, for one person to put it in and take it out of a pickup truck.
The Smith trailer has the same objection of concentrated weight and does not suggest the possibility of one person lifting the Smith trailer in and out of a pickup truck.